The present invention relates to an apparatus for making beverages such as coffee or tea through the use of a single pod that contains whole beans or leaves.
There are many types of counter-top beverage machines that can brew a beverage. In general there are two styles of beverage machines: soluble container machines and hopper machines. Both systems have various advantages and disadvantages.
Soluble container beverage machines are economical and have a small counter-top footprint. Further, soluble container machines allow a wide range of single-service beverages to be produced by the machine. A user inserts a container including a soluble substance into the machine and the machine brews a beverage using the soluble substance. However, because the soluble substances are pre-packaged, these machines do not allow for “freshly ground” beverages to be brewed.
Hopper machines have a larger footprint and are more expensive. However, hopper machines allow a user to produce a beverage using a freshly ground substance. Hopper machines include a hopper that can be filled with a substance that can be freshly ground and brewed into a beverage. However, do to the nature of the brewing process in hopper machines, they only allow for a user to brew a beverage using whatever substance is in the hopper. There are usually only a few different beverage options in a hopper machine.